Stories For A Sustainable Future

CREATIVE MEDIA
#EUROPEANFOOTPRINTS #WHATDOYOUCAREABOUT
Diego, Spain
“Us” vs. “them”. When put in contrast, these two words summarize world history in
less than one second. Tellingly, this simple dichotomy is at the root of the deadliest
conflicts mankind has ever seen. Nowadays we are witnessing how this belligerent
dichotomy pervades our societies
threatening hard-won rights and
freedoms. But here is where education
and peace come into play. The
concepts of education and peace are
intertwined as one necessitates the
other to exist. Education can only
thrive if there is sustainable peace,
Only if we teach people today
how to embrace the Other
as a fellow human being,
will we have the chance to
live in peace tomorrow.
and there can only be peace if it is sustained by education. Only if we teach people
today how to embrace the “Other” as a fellow human being, will we have the
chance to live in peace tomorrow.
In a world fraught with conflict, the BCN World Music project teaches its audience to embrace the “Other” through music.
This initiative brings together musicians from different nationalities with the aim of conveying a strong message of peaceful
coexistence. As its acronym (BCN) suggests, the project was born in the city of Barcelona. Our concerts are a mix of
storytelling and music, where we interpret folk songs in
several languages such as Macedonian, Judeo-Spanish,
Turkish, Romani or Bengali – among others. This particular
format enables us to explain the meaning of each song to
the audience as well as to deconstruct static and
dichotomic notions of identity. ***
DID YOU KNOW…?
… that the European Commission supports cultural and creative sectors through different
funding programmes? One of them is Creative Europe, which funds cultural, audio-visual
and cross-sectoral projects with an emphasis on collaboration between EU member
states. This means films, theatre, music, literary translations and many other projects get to
be created thanks to this support.
Each year two cities within the European Union are selected to bear the name of the
European Capitals of Culture. The idea came from Melina Mercouri, Greece’s minister of
culture, in 1985, to bring European citizens together by highlighting the richness and
diversity of European culture. So far, more than 40 cities have carried the title.
The European Commission adopted a New European Agenda for Culture in 2018. EU
citizens believe culture is the most important factor in creating a sense of community. But
36% do not currently participate in cultural activities, so increasing cultural participation
would bring Europeans closer together. The New Agenda aims to put more emphasis on
cultural participation of European citizens.
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